‘Alarming’ mystery drones confound officials, scare locals

‘Alarming’ mystery drones confound officials, scare locals | Daily Tribune

EDGEWATER, United States (AFP) — A rash of unexplained drone sightings in the skies above New Jersey has left locals rattled and sent US officials scrambling for answers.

Breathless local news reports have amplified the anxious sky-gazing and wild speculation — interspersing blurry, dark clips from social media with irate locals calling for action.

For weeks now, the distinctive blinking lights and whirling rotors of large unmanned aerial vehicles have been spotted across the state west of New York.

But military brass, elected representatives and investigators have been unable to explain the recurring unidentified flying object phenomenon.

Sam Lugo, 23, who works in the Club Studio gym in New Jersey’s Bergen county, one of the corners of the state that has seen several drone sightings, called the reports “crazy.”

“It’s pretty concerning they were sighted... without explanation. It can be alarming,” he said.

Officials including the governor have called on people not to be alarmed, but have not yet offered an explanation for the aerial activity.

The clamor for transparency intensified on Thursday when the four senators for New Jersey and New York called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Transportation and Homeland Security (DHS) to brief them on how the agencies were working to “identify and address the source of these incursions.”

The White House said the sightings featured in a briefing received by President Joe Biden, while National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said there was “no evidence” of a threat — and that they may be manned aircraft.

“There’s just no indication that this is some sort of foreign, malign activity — or, in fact, even criminal,” Kirby said.

He also called on lawmakers to expand legislation clamping down on drone operations near airports and other high-risk sites.

Later, the FBI and DHS said in a statement that “upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space.”

But social media users have been adamant they have seen outsized drones.

“I’ve seen them every night since Thanksgiving, they’re smaller than my Jeep,” wrote X user Gus Seretis.

“They hover just about tree height or a little higher,” he added, describing them as like aircraft too small for a pilot and vowing to “shoot at one if it comes low enough.”

New Jersey congressman Chris Smith wrote to the Pentagon on Tuesday demanding answers.

“There have been numerous instances of unmanned aerial systems flying over New Jersey, including in close proximity to sensitive sites and critical infrastructure, to include military installations located in my district,” he wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.